Non-lethal projectiles are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,861,657, issued on Jan. 4, 2011, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a non-lethal projectile comprising a deformable head arranged to absorb kinetic energy upon impact of the projectile with a target.
In addition to or as an alternative to a deformable head, non-lethal projectiles may comprise a variety of head designs some of which may be arranged to carry a payload. Such payloads may include but are not limited to malodorant, marking liquid, marking powder, pepper liquid and pepper powder. An example of a payload carrying non-lethal projectile is disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0066849, which published on Mar. 31, 2005, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. The device disclosed in the foregoing publication includes a nose portion formed from a frangible, rigid, polymer foam material such that the nose crushes upon impact with a target to disperse energy, thereby reducing the kinetic energy transferred to the target while simultaneously dispensing its payload, e.g., marker agents, lacrimators, irritants, inflammatory agents, odorants or inert powders.
Non-lethal projectiles known in the art suffer from a variety of drawbacks. For example, known projectile head arrangements fail to provide a controlled dispensing of a payload. Such payloads are randomly and unpredictably dispersed upon impact. Such a condition may decrease the effectiveness of the payload as it may fail to reach its desired location or desired extent of dispersion. Additionally, tradeoffs between kinetic energy dissipation and quantities and types of payloads have been required. For example, frangible powder payloads do not dissipate kinetic energy to the same extent as a viscoelastic material such as a silicone rubber polymer. Similarly, liquid payloads offer a hydro-impact effect to lessen inertia upon impacting a target.